123.net acquires ZING Networks, plans to hire
Source: metromode, 10/22/2009
Dan Irvin started 123.net in 1993 as a
way to work from home and spend more time with his young family. Today
the Southfield-based firm is becoming a family of companies, now that
it has bought ZING Networks as part of its growth plan.
123.net
(Irvin choose the name because it was easy to remember) is a
communications service provider. It wanted ZING Networks, a wireless
Internet service provider, because it is the sole 4G WiMAX network
provider in Metro Detroit.
"It gives us another path to our customers," Irvin says. "We see it as a technology that has matured over the last 4-5 years."
Southfield-based
ZING Networks' four employees will be folded into 123.net's operations,
which already employ a dozen people, a summer intern and about half a
dozen independent contractors. 123.net hired five engineers within the
last year.
"I expect we'll double again in the next year," Irvin says.
The
company has been on a tear in recent years and expects it to continue.
It averages 30-40 percent annual revenue growth and has acquired more
than 700 miles of fiber optics across the state. It has scaled up to
the point where it doesn't have a problem competing here, or even on
the West Coast.
"The last couple of years have been really
exciting because the price points, size of our business, and demand for
the Internet have made us very competitive," Irvin says. "We are big
enough to compete with anyone around here."
Source: Dan Irvin, owner of 123.net
Writer: Jon Zemke
Lawrence Tech expo focuses on interns, co-ops
Source: metromode, 10/8/2009
Lawrence Technological University is
going to put some more real-world into its educational experience with
a new expo for interns and co-op students later this month.
The
annual Co-op & Internship Expo looks to pair Lawrence Tech students
seeking internships with local employers looking for cost-effective
help.
"Anytime they can combine theory and practice they can
come away with a degree with practical applications," says Peg Pierce,
director of career services for Lawrence Technological University.
This
is part of Michigan's push to staunch its brain drain. Internships are
shown to be an effective tool in keeping college graduates in the
state, as students are more likely to stay where they have a foot in
the door for their first professional job.
"The reality is the
students are going to be less likely to look outside of Michigan if
they already have options here," Pierce says.
The expo will be
held on Oct. 22 at Lawrence Tech's Southfield campus, 21000 West Ten
Mile Road. Lawrence Tech is still looking for more employers to
participate. For information, call (248) 204-3140 or send an email to ltuocs@ltu.edu.
Source: Peg Pierce, director of career services for Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke
Oakland County introduces voting reminder emails
Source: metromode, 10/8/2009
Oakland County is using cyberspace methods to get more real people voting in the next election cycle.
Its latest innovation is to send out an email reminder to voters two weeks before elections and then again on election days. The reminder will also include a bevy of other information voters can use to make the process easier.
"It's kind of like an electronic post-it note," says Ruth Johnson, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.
The
emails will be sent out before all local, school, state, and federal
elections and will link to the clerk's website. The site will feature a
list of candidates and ballot proposals, campaign finance reports,
polling locations, and instructional videos for using voting machines.
It
will also feature a new election reporting system that reveals results
in real time. Also included will be information on voter registration
and on how to become a poll worker, and a link to the state's Voter
Information Center.
"This is just one more tool in the tool box," Johnson says.
For information on these new systems, click here.
Source: Ruth Johnson, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds
Writer: Jon Zemke
Lawrence Tech adds engineering entrepreneur in residence
Source: metromode, 10/1/2009
Bridging business and engineering isn't
the easiest task, but it's one that Pavan Muzumdar plans on making
easier at Lawrence Technological University.
The
Southfield-based school just appointed Muzumdar as its first
engineering entrepreneur in residence. The new position, funded by a
$1.1 million grant from the Kern Family Foundation over five years,
will focus on integrating an entrepreneurial mindset into the
university's undergraduate engineering curriculum.
That will
mean everything from modifying courses to incorporate more of a
business focus to supporting the idea of tech transfer and
commercialization of Lawrence Tech's research and ideas. He will also
work with senior engineering students on product development projects.
"I will help these students look at these products from a business
standpoint, such as defining a need, the size of the market, and at
what price point it would sell," Muzumdar says.
Muzumdar has
an extensive business background. In 1997, the University of
Massachusetts alum left a consulting job in New York to work at
Clawson-based MV Software, Inc., where he instituted a number of
startup initiatives, such as developing a new software product from the
ground up. The India native also helped establish a wholly owned
subsidiary of the company in Mumbai, India.
He also served as
the COO of JRE Tires, a wholesale and retail distributor of tires and
wheels earlier this decade before leading the negotiations for the sale
of the company in 2006. Last year he founded Pieris Capital in
Bloomfield Hills, where he has worked on identifying opportunities for
investors, providing advisory services, and raising capital for
high-growth companies.
Source: Pavan Muzumdar, engineering entrepreneur in residence at Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke
Lawrence Tech, Oakland U team up for job fair
Source: metromode, 9/17/2009
Lawrence Technological and Oakland
universities are showing a little regional cooperation in joining
forces for one big job fair on Tuesday, September 22.
The Tech x
2 Expo = OU + LTU job fair will be for college students at the two
universities who are majoring in engineering, computer science, and
technology disciplines or have recently graduated with degrees in those
fields.
"It's a convenience for the employers," says Eric
Pope, a spokesman for Lawrence Tech. "Instead of going to two job fairs
they can go to one."
Both schools have held a variety of jobs fairs for both students and regular workers this year.
To
register, companies should go to and click on the employer icon.
Companies already on CareerQuest should visit the Lawrence Tech site
and log on to their accounts.
The job fair will be held at Oakland University in Auburn Hills (a map is available here) between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. There will also be a lunch from 1-2 p.m. Registration for employers starts at 8 a.m. and costs $225.
For
information, call Lawrence Tech's Office of Career Services at (248)
204-3140 or the Office of Career Services at Oakland University at
(248) 370-3250, or send an email to ltuocs@ltu.edu or ketelsen@oakland.edu.
Source: Eric Pope, spokesman for Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke
Southfield-based Ideal Recycling looks to double staff
Source: metromode, 8/20/2009
Most people's commutes leave them a lot of time to think. Todd Foster's gave him ample time to come up with a business idea.
The veteran waste-disposal worker got the bright idea of recycling asphalt shingles during his day job, and last year created Ideal Recycling.
"I was hauling all of this waste everyday to the landfills and weigh stations," says Todd Foster, partner in Ideal Recycling. "I figured there must be a better way to do this, especially for shingles."
He brought in Chris Edwards, a friend fresh from an automotive industry layoff, and started the business last year. Today it employs six and Foster expects his staff to double again within the next year.
The secrete behind the growth is shingles. Most landfills don't want them because they are dense and messy to deal with. However, they are also petroleum based, which makes them ideal candidates for recycling into material for road asphalt. Michigan is still, slowly, catching onto that trend. It doesn't allow as much recycled material in its asphalt as other states where recycling shingles into asphalt is common practice.
"It's very popular on the East and West coasts," Foster says. "It's very popular in the greener states."
Ideal Recycling has recycled about 9,000 tons of asphalt shingles so far and expects to double that by the end of this year. Future growth is expected, the key being the liberalization of the state's asphalt recycling laws, which Foster sees happening sooner rather than later.
Source: Todd Foster, partner with Ideal Recycling
Writer: Jon Zemke
Michigan Tech, Engineering Society of Detroit offer training for auto engineers
Source: metromode, 8/20/2009
Laid off auto engineers worried about being left behind will have a chance to push the envelope in their field soon.
The Engineering Society of Detroit is teaming up with Michigan Technological University and AVL
to help the state's automotive engineers learn about hybrid vehicle
technology and the electrification of the automobile. It's doing this
through a semester-long course to be offered this fall.
"Advanced
Propulsion for Hybrid Vehicles with Concentration in Battery
Engineering" is a graduate-level, three-credit class starting this
fall. The 100 students admitted to the program will focus on battery
design and on what makes the next generation of hybrid and electric
vehicles tick.
For information, contact Linda LaPointe at llapointe@esd.org or by snail mail at The Engineering Society of Detroit, 20700 Civic Center Drive, Suite 450, Southfield, MI 48076.
Source: Engineering Society of Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
Princeton Review calls Lawrence Tech one of Midwest's best
Source: metromode, 8/6/2009
Lawrence Technological University has an
admirer. It's a name you have heard of but not someone you know. The
Princeton Review has named the Southfield-based university as one of
the Best of the Midwest in 2010.
Lawrence Tech
garnered the designation from an anonymous student survey and for the
university's general academic excellence. In the survey, students were
asked to judge their school on a broad range of issues. Those ranged
from the accessibility of professors to quality of the campus food.
Lawrence
Tech is one of 158 schools that qualified as one of the Princeton
Review's Best of the Midwest, about one quarter of colleges that were
eligible. Those schools were based in 12 states that went as far north
as Minnesota, as far south as Iowa, as far east as Ohio and as far west
as Nebraska.
Source: Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke